WEHImovies | Art of Science 2024 I Big Eaters @WEHImovies | Uploaded October 2024 | Updated October 2024, 4 hours ago.
Big Eaters by Dr Niall Geoghegan, Dr George Ashdown

Macrophage cells are our first line of defence, patrolling our bodies for harmful invaders like bacteria and viruses. Their name is Greek for “big eater” and these immune cells have a big appetite for destroying pathogens.

But macrophages can fail when they come up against the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Here we see human macrophage cells labelled with an orange membrane dye to show their internal workings. The cells have taken up fluorescent tuberculosis bacteria (blue).

Using lattice light sheet imaging, scientists can monitor this battle in real time and in unprecedented detail.

The ultimate goal is to find ways to help the macrophage destroy the bacteria and reduce the global health impact of tuberculosis, a disease that kills more than 1.3 million people each year.

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